OPP officer cleared of stunt-driving charge

[camber]

OPP officer cleared of stunt-driving charge

Racism behind allegation, constable says

Posted By GALEN EAGLE, EXAMINER COURT WRITER

Posted 2 days ago



Peterborough County OPP Const. Lloyd Tapp was found not guilty yesterday on charges of stunt driving and careless driving.
The 43-year-old officer had strong words for the fellow officer who made the allegations against him and those that investigated the case.
"Like I have been saying all along, the whole charge was a crock of lies," Tapp said. "The evidence you have heard today in court is a clear indication of the shoddy investigations of the Ontario Provincial Police."
Questioning why charges were laid against him, Tapp said he is a visible minority who has made four claims to the Ontario Human Rights Commission against the OPP since 2005.
"One might ask then, why were charges laid when such a strong prima facie case existed with a lack of evidence to even substantiate a charge?" he said. "What the public has heard today in court, the public should take heed to the type of so-called professional investigations and integrity of investigations by OPP."
Tapp was charged April 8 with driving at least 50 km/h over the speed limit and careless driving on Highway 115 in Cavan Monaghan Township on March 25.
Tapp was one of several Peterborough County OPP officers who agreed to provide security detail at Queen's Park during the release of the provincial budget March 25, court heard.
OPP Const. Brenda Donnelly travelled with Tapp to Toronto in a marked cruiser, she testified. The two left the Peterborough detachment at about 3:37 a. m. and arrived in Toronto for briefing at about 4:45 a. m., she said.
En route to Toronto, Donnelly said Tapp was driving 180 km/h along Highway 115, between 140 to 160 km/h on the 401 and was obeying the speed limit on the Don Valley Parkway.
"We started going fast, excessive speeds," she told court. "The speedometer was pointing in my direction ... it was at the 180 km/h mark. We travelled that speed for quite a ways, most of the 115."
Donnelly said she didn't say anything to Tapp because she had to work with him for the rest of the day. She made a formal police statement six days later, court heard.

Defence lawyer William MacKenzie questioned why Donnelly didn't stop Tapp if he was driving at such speeds.
"On your evidence, you sat there quietly while a member of the police service broke the law. You failed to uphold your duties as a sworn officer, correct," MacKenzie asked.
"Yes, yes I did," Donnelly replied.
Tapp testified he wasn't paying attention to the speedometer but was going with the flow of traffic. He said he would never drive at such "ridiculous" speeds.
"Personally, it's against my code of ethics to travel at that speed," Tapp testified.
MacKenzie argued Donnelly was a poor witness who didn't take any notes of the incident. Her testimony also diverged from her police statement, court heard. She told police Tapp travelled 180 km/h the entire way to Toronto, MacKenzie noted.
Given the 134 kilometres between the detachment and Queen's Park and the timeline Donnelly provided, MacKenzie said Tapp couldn't have driven more than 50 km/h over the speed limit.
"The mathematics don't lie here," MacKenzie said.
Justice of the peace Douglas Clark ruled the Crown did not prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.c...aspx?e=1290712

Let's assume he actually did obey the speed limit after turning off the 401 onto the Don Valley Parkway and the rest of the way into downtown Toronto to Queens Park. That only makes it worse, not better.

According to Google Maps that remaining 16 km portion of the trip should take 15 mins.

134 km - 16 km = 118 km
68 min - 15 min = 53 min

That would mean he covered the other 118 kms of Hwy 115 & 401 in only 53 minutes. That means, that from the moment he left the OPP detachment in Peterborough until he exited the 401 at the Don Valley Parkway, he averaged 134 km/hr!

[froghammer]

Stunt driving? I hope he was on two wheels for at least a portion of the drive to earn that. Heh.

[Rob MacLennan]

I'll have to remember to argue that it is impossible to exceed the limit by more than 50 Kmh for a short period of time during an extended drive, if I'm ever charged under 172

[eastcoast_gsx]

I'll have to remember to argue that it is impossible to exceed the limit by more than 50 Kmh for a short period of time during an extended drive, if I'm ever charged under 172

Pretty sad display. You can guess not much opportunity for this woman now.

[El Zilcho]

I'll have to remember to argue that it is impossible to exceed the limit by more than 50 Kmh for a short period of time during an extended drive, if I'm ever charged under 172

The witness said it was a long period of speeding:

"We started going fast, excessive speeds," she told court. "The speedometer was pointing in my direction ... it was at the 180 km/h mark. We travelled that speed for quite a ways, most of the 115."

The defense's argument was that this wasn't likely given that the average speed was determined to be much lower.

[camber]

The witness said it was a long period of speeding:



The defense's argument was that this wasn't likely given that the average speed was determined to be much lower.

Given that the car had probably had to average 134 km/h from when he pushed the gas pedal at the Peterborough police station, to when they exited the 401. I'm pretty sure that one speed limit along the way, was exceeded by more then 50 km/h for a sustained period of time.

[djltoronto]

Was the car ever impounded?

[Rob MacLennan]

The witness said it was a long period of speeding:

DVP limit is 90KMH IIRC. HWY401 is 100Kmh. What about 35/115? I don't find it hard to believe that he could have been travelling at over 150Kmh for even an extended period of time and arrive at those figures.

[82Seca750]

What about 35/115?

ranges between 80-100 if memory serves...

[Dan Dubeau]

Hwy 115/35 is 90km/h between 401, and 35 cutoff. From 35 to hwy 7 it's 100km/h

[82Seca750]

interesting

I wonder how Officer Tapp feels about those visible sheet-metal minorities with low suspensions, wide tires, and loud exhausts getting slammed under HTA172 for allegedly breaking a law covered by a long list of pre-existing laws that don't carry draconian rights violations and staggering fines

this article is gold....and supports a stance I've had about this BS since day one

"a copper having a bad day can screw you".....

and the fact that the good old blueline can't even seem to keep control of themselves wielding this enormous power against each other proves beyond doubt IMO, that they shouldn't have this power to weild against us lowly schmoes who don't wear the uniform to begin with

bravo OPP bravo

[eastcoast_gsx]

interesting

I wonder how Officer Tapp feels about those visible sheet-metal minorities with low suspensions, wide tires, and loud exhausts getting slammed under HTA172 for allegedly breaking a law covered by a long list of pre-existing laws that don't carry draconian rights violations and staggering fines

this article is gold....and supports a stance I've had about this BS since day one

"a copper having a bad day can screw you".....

and the fact that the good old blueline can't even seem to keep control of themselves wielding this enormous power against each other proves beyond doubt IMO, that they shouldn't have this power to weild against us lowly schmoes who don't wear the uniform to begin with

bravo OPP bravo

Gotta love it...

The 43-year-old officer had strong words for the fellow officer who made the allegations against him and those that investigated the case.
"Like I have been saying all along, the whole charge was a crock of lies," Tapp said. "The evidence you have heard today in court is a clear indication of the shoddy investigations of the Ontario Provincial Police."

[ddusseld]

I'm not defending the cop but this would have been a travesty if a conviction occurred. No notes, no measuring device, charges 6 days later, contradictory testimony. Why oh why would this cop have laid these charges? It makes no sense. It really looks like there was an ulterior motive.

[djltoronto]

I'm not defending the cop but this would have been a travesty if a conviction occurred. No notes, no measuring device, charges 6 days later, contradictory testimony. Why oh why would this cop have laid these charges? It makes no sense. It really looks like there was an ulterior motive.

In this case - there was an eye witness, who observed the calibrated speedometer of the car in question...

[ddusseld]

Was the car's speedo calibrated? Who knows?

Why would she wait 6 days to report this? Really, why would she report a fellow cop? This just does not make sense. If she was so outraged by the speed she would have reported him right away.

In this case - there was an eye witness, who observed the calibrated speedometer of the car in question...

[Rob MacLennan]

Was the car's speedo calibrated? Who knows?

Why would she wait 6 days to report this? Really, why would she report a fellow cop? This just does not make sense. If she was so outraged by the speed she would have reported him right away.

It was a OPP cruiser, so presumably so.

Do you know how someone who crosses the 'thin blue line' and reports a fellow officer is treated in the detachment? It would take a few days of soul searching to figure out if she should or not.

[SVHenn]

pretty sad that she reported it, but also pretty sad him going off with the "its cause im black" thing... maybe its cause your an *** hole..maybe its cause your dumb enough to drive like an *** hole.. oh well, I guess it worked for him, maybe I should move to a place like Markham(where the visible minorities over populate the non minorities...if that even makes sence) and start using the same style of defence for everything I do wrong...its almost frigin 2009!!!!!

[ddusseld]

Again, we don't know about calibration. Was this presented as evidence? Was it accepted? The speedo would be the only relevant evidence. A classic case of he said she said with no other evidence. Presumably since they are both cops their words would carry the same weight in court.

The whole how you will be treated is my point. I would expect that something that would cause an officer to cross the "thin blue line" would have to be something they really believed in. Something that they felt very strongly about. Not something that would take 6 days to figure out. 6 days is a lot of soul searching. I'd love to see how the reporting officers career advances over the next couple of years....

It was a OPP cruiser, so presumably so.

Do you know how someone who crosses the 'thin blue line' and reports a fellow officer is treated in the detachment? It would take a few days of soul searching to figure out if she should or not.

[camber]

I'm not defending the cop but this would have been a travesty if a conviction occurred. No notes, no measuring device, charges 6 days later, contradictory testimony. Why oh why would this cop have laid these charges? It makes no sense. It really looks like there was an ulterior motive.

Why would you risk your job and potential advancement over a speeding ticket?

[KawiZuki]

So where does this leave the rest of us?